By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
Published: November 6, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/bu...my/07jobs.html
The United States economy shed 190,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in September, the Department of Labor said Friday in its monthly economic appraisal.
While the pace of job losses has slowed significantly since the peak of the recession last winter, the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking work, continues to climb, and economists do not foresee relief until well into next year.
“There’s no doubt that the slashing and burning of jobs has abated quite a lot,” said Allen L. Sinai, the founder of Decision Economics, a research firm. “The economy is recovering, but it is a very soft recovery.”
The biggest losses came in the construction, manufacturing and retailing sectors. Health care companies added 29,000 jobs to their payrolls, and the number of temporary workers increased by 34,000 — a significant gain that could indicate employers are beginning to expand their businesses again.
The Labor Department also revised September’s losses to 219,000 from 263,000.
Dean Baker, a director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said he did not expect declining unemployment rates until next spring. “We may be looking at very high levels,” Mr. Baker said, “barring a policy response, for several years into the future.”
The dissonance of the economic recovery, with steep job losses coming even as production intensifies and companies show better-than-expected profits, has placed policy makers in a delicate position.
On Thursday, in anticipation of the unemployment report, Congress overwhelmingly voted to extend benefits for jobless workers for up to 20 weeks. That will soothe the short-term financial pain of many families, but demands for a new wave of government relief may intensify if companies continue to cut back.
So far, the federal stimulus package has injected billions into local economies, giving states money, for instance, to finance construction projects or retain teachers. The housing and auto sectors have been propped up with government credits meant to encourage spending. But weak consumer demand and hefty labor costs are still forcing many employers to cut positions and reduce hours to survive.
The recession has forced many Americans to settle for part-time work because companies are reluctant to add full-time employees. The underemployment rate, which includes part-time workers, the jobless and those who have given up on searching, was 17.5 percent in October — the highest level since at least 1994.
Even as unemployment remains high, there are signs that critical industries are gaining steam.
The manufacturing sector, considered the engine of the economy, was given its most optimistic bill of health in three years by a private group on Monday. Manufacturers added jobs for the first time in 15 months in October, the group said, largely by bringing in temporary workers or recalling laid-off workers. Economists say that the first sign of recovery in jobs will be when more companies begin bringing in temporary workers.
The economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, ending a year of back-to-back contractions. But whether that economic expansion will translate into immediate job creation is still widely debated.
“You can’t force businesses to use their profits to hire,” Mr. Sinai said.
Consumer confidence is still low, and many economists believe an economic turnaround will not come until consumers feel at ease again. With families taking home smaller paychecks each month, that could take time.
For the 15.7 million Americans who were without work in October, Friday’s data did little to change the realities of their daily lives — mornings spent combing online job sites, afternoons devoted to fighting off bill collectors. Their résumés will still go out, their interviews will go on, and, more likely than not, their phones will not ring.
Melissa Grodhaus, 42, a laid-off cemetery worker from Winona, Ohio, said she had filled out 150 applications since she lost her job nearly two years ago. She struggles to keep up with mortgage payments and utility bills, and she must also take care of her three children.
“There’s nothing here,” she said. “I can’t see anything worse than it is right now.”
Ms. Grodhaus has started selling old clothes on eBay, and she has told her children she cannot afford to pay the fees for school sports this year. Every two weeks, when the local church brings out food baskets, she rushes to pick up her share. Within minutes, she said, they are gone.
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More coverage.
US Stock Futures Slide As Oct Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2% - WSJ.com
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I may want to stay in school and get my Doctorate after all...
